Automatic belt-shifter.



No. 700,680. Patented May 20, I902.

R. I. FANCHER.

AUTOMATIC BELT SHIFTEB.

(Application filed Mar. 27, 1901.)

IllllllI-l ll II II (No Model.)

NITED STATES ROSMAN I. FANCHER, OF BALD\VINSVILLE, NEW YORK, ASSIG'NOR TO THE FANOHER MACHINE COMPANY, OF BALDIVINSVILLE, NEW YORK, A

CORPORATION OF NEIV YORK.

AUTOMATIC BELT-B-SHIFTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 700,680, dated May 20, 1902. Application filed March 27, 1901. Serial No. 53,061. (No model.)

To all LU/LONb it may corbcewb:

Be it known that I, ROSMAN I. FANCHER, of Baldwinsville, in the county of Onondaga, in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Automatic Belt- Shifters, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in automatic belt-shifters.

My object is to produce an improved mechanism comprising a shaft suspended from a ceiling or overhead support, a body swinging upon said shaft, an oscillatory frame pivoted upon one end of said body and carrying a fast and loose pulley, and a swingingframe carrying the idlers for the belt and flexible shaft, whereby when one frame is swung the other is oscillated and the belt shifted from the loose to the fast pulley to drive the flexible shaft and from the fast to the loose pulley to stop it.

My invention consists in the several novel features of construction and operation, as hereinafter described, and which are specifically set forth inthe claims hereunto annexed.

It is constructed as follows, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of the apparatus set up in position for use. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the inner end of the body and the swinging frame. Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the other end and the oscillatory frame. Fig. 4 is a cross-section on line a: 11;, Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a detail View of a releasing mechanism for the swinging frame.

A is a support suitably mounted overhead, and 2 is a shaft suitably hung to be revolved in it and providedwith a pulley 3, driven by the belt i from any suitable source of power, and with a pulley5, which drives a belt 6. Upon this shaft a body 7 is pivoted, and 8 is a frame mounted to oscillate upon opposite upper and lower bearings in said body, substantially as shown. In this frame a shaft 9 is suitably journaled, upon which the fast and loose pulleys 11 12 are suitably mounted, and the belt 6 drives this shaft and the pulley 10. Suitable adjustable stops 13 on said body regulate the oscillation of said frame, as seen in Figs. 1 and 2. I In the other end of said body is a slot 14, in which is a roller 15, and 16 is a swing-frame mounted upon the axle of said roller, and 17 17 are idler-pulleys upon suitable arbors. A belt 18 from the pulley 10 passes over said idlers and drives a pulley a, which is suitably supported upon a bar 19, which is secured to said swing-frame and usually provided with a counterbalance. Upon the inner end of said frame is an arm 20, having a face 21, which engages with a lug 22 on said body, whereby when said frame is swung by means of the bar 19 it is also forced outward. This tightens the belt 18 and creating a leverage on the shaft 9 oscillates the frame 8 and shifts the belt from the loose to the fast pulley, and the pulley a and the flexible shaft 23 are then driven. When the power is removed from said. bar, the swing-frame automatically returns by the counterbalance to its normal position, the frame 8 oscillates back by the turning of the belt 6, and the belt shifts automatically from the fast to the loose pulley,and the flexible shaft stops. This shifting movement of the belt 6 from the loose to the tight pulley, and vice versa, is effected by reason of the fact that the plane of rotation of the driven pulley, as 11 or 12, must be substantially tangential to the portion of the periphery of the driving-pulley, as 5, which is moving toward said pulleys 11 or 12, or, in other words, the section of the belt retiring from the driving-pulley 5 must be substantially tangential to both the driving and driven pulleys, the plane of rotation of said driving and driven pulleys being at substantially right angles to each other, and it is thus evident that theadvancing side of the belt approaching either the tight or the loose pulley must be moved in the same plane of rotation as the loose or tight pulley. Therefore when the shaft upon which said tight and loose pulleys are mounted is shifted in the manner described the loose pulley is rocked at an angle with the plane of movement of the advancing side of the belt 6, and the tight pulley is simultaneously moved at substantially right angles to the advancing side of said belt. Therefore the belt will readily leave the loose pulley and ride upon the face of the tight pulley, and when the shaft 9 is returned to its normal position the loose pulley 12 is brought into the same plane of retation as the advancing side of the belt, and therefore the belt shifts automatically to this pulley. Also as the swinging of the frame depends upon its engagement with the lug 22, so when the arms 22", which are pivoted at 22, are moved out of alinement with the adjacent portions of the arm 20 by means of an operating-cord m and togglearms n of the arms 22 said frame will thereby be released to return to its normal position. This enables an operator to quickly stop the flexible shaft, as when a drill or other tool sticks in its work, because then a quick jerk downward on the cord m will swing the lug past the arm 20, and then the strain will draw the frame down its inclined support and slacken the belt and stop the tool before the flexible shaft or tool is broken. These lugs are shown as hung on pivots, so that they can be moved away from the body of the frame to permit the frame to freely return to its normal position.

It will be seen that the swing-frame is composed of four parallel bars, one pair of which are astride of and are mounted with a sliding or movable bearing 15 upon the body, and the other pair constitutes a support for the idlers, which carry the belt which drives the flexible shaft, and that this belt is tightened by shifting the bearing of said frame, and by the inclination of said bearing said frame will return automatically to its normal position.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination withapivotally-mounted body, of an oscillatory frame mounted upon one end of the body, fast and loose pulleys mounted on said frame, a belt for driving said pulleys, a swing-frame mounted upon the other end of the body and means actuated by the swing-frame for oscillating the other frame and thereby shifting the belt from one pulley to the other.

2. The combination with apivotally-mounted body, of an oscillatory frame mounted upon one end of the body, fast and loose pulleys mounted on said frame, abelt for driving said pulleys, an additional pulley mounted on the frame and actuated by the fast pulley, a second belt driven by said additional pulley, a swing-frame mounted upon the other end of the body, an idler carried by the swingframe and arranged to engage the additional belt wherebysaid additional belt is tensioned by the movement of the swing-frame for oscillating the former frame and thereby shifting the driving-belt from the loose to the tight pulley.

3. The combination with a pivoted body provided with a slot, of a swing-frame having a movable bearing in said slot, idlers in said frame, a shoulder on said body engaged by the frame as said frame is swung for moving the bearings in said slot and thereby shifting the position of the idlers and a belt engaged by said idlers.

4. The combination with a pivoted body provided with a slot, of a swing-frame having a movable bearing in said slot, idlers in said frame, a shoulder on said body engaged by the frame as said frame is swung for moving the hearings in said slot and thereby shifting the position of the idlers, an oscillatory frame mounted on the body, fast and loose pulleys mounted on the frame, a belt for driving said pulleys, an additional pulley mounted on the oscillatory frame and driven by the fast pulley, and a second belt driven by the additional pulley and engaged with said idlers, whereby the change in position of the swinging frame rocks the oscillatory frame and thereby shifts the driving-belt from one pulley to the other.

5. The combination with a vertical rotatable main shaft having a pulley, of a body pivoted on the shaft, an oscillatory frame upon one end of said body, a shaft journaled on the frame, fast and loose pulleys on the shaft, a driving-belt driven from the former pulley for driving the fast and loose pulleys, an additional pulley mounted upon the second shaft, a swing-frame upon the other end of the body, idlers mounted on the swing-frame, a belt driven from the additional pulley and engaged with said idlers whereby as the swingframe is moved the idlers act upon the driven belt to rock the oscillating frame for auto matically shifting the driving-belt from one pulley to the other.

6. The combination with a suitable support, an oscillatory frame carrying fast and loose pulleys and a driven pulley, of a swinging frame, an additional pulley carried by the swinging frame, a belt for transmitting power from the driven pulley to the latter pulley, a driving-belt for the fast and loose pulleys and means provided on the swinging frame and acting upon the driven belt whereby the movement of the swing-frame rocks the oscillating frame and shifts the driving-belt from the fast to the loose pulley and vice versa.

7. The combinationwith a support having oppositely-arranged bearings,of an oscillatory frame pivoted between said bearings, a shaft journaled on the frame and provided with tight and loose pulleys, a belt for driving said pulleys and means for rocking the oscillating frame and thereby shifting the driving-belt from one pulley to the other.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 23d day of March, 1901.

' ROSMAN I. FANCHER, Witnesses:

MILDRED M. No'rT, H. E. CHASE. 

